September 2009 Archive

In this and future issues we will look at one of the most critical seals in a race engine, the seal between the top of the cylinder bore and the cylinder head.
There are of course many ways of achieving this seal, but perhaps the first question we s...
read more

In previous articles on exhausts, we have talked about how these systems are composed of smaller parts, then welded together to form the whole. We further assumed that these smaller component parts would either be small cast pieces, simple bends or p...
read more

Last month, we looked at some basic calculations regarding cyclic loading of fasteners. We must apologise for the recurring errors in printing symbols. The questions marks last month should have been ‘delta’ symbols. For example strain wa...
read more

The subject of fuel additives is always a thorny subject in motorsport. As a competitor, there are always concerns associated with the ‘unfair’ advantage but if the vehicle is a historic one and designed to run on fuels that are no longer...
read more

Last month we looked very briefly at gear pumps, in particular, external gear pumps when two gears sit side-by-side. A particular derivation of the gear pump however, sometimes referred to as an internal gear pump or internal-external gear pump is wh...
read more

Mark Smith’s PME Engines of Mooresville, North Carolina powers the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (CWTS) entries of Ron Hornaday Jr and Matt Crafton, currently first and second in points as the campaign hits its home stretch.
To keep things...
read more

Mention the subjects of durability and wear measurement in engine development and the image immediately conjured up is one of tests lasting hundreds of hours and lots of precise measurements, both before and after the test. When it comes to the pisto...
read more

Race engine crankshafts are typically produced from steel billets and are gas nitrided to improve fatigue life and reduce wear.
However nitriding is not suitable for all crankshafts, as the author found recently whilst detailing a crankshaft from a ...
read more

Here’s a word of warning for you which highlights the importance of getting the basics right. The author recently visited a company who run a small water brake dynamometer for training purposes.
The company recently came into possession of a b...
read more

Up until the end of the 1950s, when the front engined Grand Prix car predominated, it was not uncommon to find it’s transmission attached to the engine bell housing, in classic road car configuration, with the box itself almost always in-line, ...
read more

Helpful Information

Keep updated

Blog Latest

Titanium is a strange material, not least for the myths surrounding it. It is often described as being incredibly hard, or incredibly strong, when the truth is that it is neither. It can be impressively strong compared to its density, but it does not stand out in this respect. It has been very ex… read article »